Dov Bar: One of the murderers mentioned was a German from the German Republic on the Volga. This merits a brief historical note:

In the year 1732, a baby was born to one of the local landowners. His name was Stanislav Pontyakovsky. His mother was of the Polish Royal family. She bought the lands of Volchin. His father was the Minister of Treasury of Lithuania. Pontiyakovsky became the lover of the Russian Tzarina Yekaterina the Great. Their daughter was taken by the old Tzarina to offer her royal education. After a short while, the old Tzarina declared the baby dead. Yekaterina, whose ancestry was Prussian-German, appointed Pontiakovsky King of Poland. He was the last Polish king. Yekaterina herself robbed him of his title. He died before the end of the 18th century, in Saint Petersburg, and was buried there.

Years later, his adherents smuggled his coffin and buried it in the Catholic church of Volchin. In 1988 the Polish authorities were allowed to dig in the church. They uncovered the royal coffin but it was empty of the bones of the king. The coffin and the royal accessories found in the church were brought to Poland and were put in a museum.

During the reign of Yekaterina, because of her German ancestry, it had become possible for Germans to settle on the Volga. This place was named Republic of the Germans on the Volga.

Notes: Stanislaw II Pontyakovski: born 1732 died 1798. ruled: 1764-1795